By Hand London Victoria Blazer

I made a toile because I'm tall and I wanted to make a waist length version. I added 5cm's and was pretty happy with it. The pattern is really easy to follow and a joy to make. It was really quick too, I knocked up the toile in a day, I took my time over the final jacket, I think I spent a couple of days on it. I did lots of seam finishing, I hand sewed the arm holes and tacked down the collar which took some time. I think it really shows in the final piece though.

I used a lovely Bluebird Denim linen that I got from Merchant and Mills. I bought a metre and a half for another project and didn't end up using it, so I was really pleased when I discovered I had just enough to make the jacket. My cotton mix lining is from Barry's Birmingham.

I really can't stress how lovely it is to work with a good pattern and the By Hand girls know what they're doing. I made an error with the finishing at the bottom of the collar, I sewed it into the lining, oops. But I don't mind, I quite like the flattened collar :).

I really love this jacket. I'm going to make a By Hand Anna top/Charlotte skirt dress to go with it for important work stuff. I saw a really nice version on the By Hand Instagram feed, so I know it can work well. I have already got the toile bits cut out, I just need to find the time to put them together :).